Bears guard Luke Newman was taking off his cleats at the end of the Bears’ rookie minicamp Sunday when he introduced himself to running back Kyle Monangai.
“Kyle,” he said, “you terrorized us.”
In the regular-season finale Nov. 30, Monangai ran 31 times for 129 yards and one touchdown in Rutgers’ 41-14 victory against Newman’s Michigan State team.
“They know my name up there in East Lansing,” Monangai said.
They know his name in a lot of Big Ten cities. In 16 conference games the last two years, Monangai eclipsed 100 rushing yards eight times. He was first-team All-Big Ten last year and graduated as the second-leading rusher in Rutgers history. He never fumbled in his five-year college career and was a captain twice.
He was available for the Bears to draft in Round 7, however, because, while his production is elite, his measurables are not.
The production: Monangai averaged 105.9 rushing yards per game the last two seasons at Rutgers. Only three other power-conference running backs had more during that time. One was drafted in the first round last month, the other in the second round and the third in the sixth round. Monangai had to wait till Pick 233 to hear his name. The reason: He ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine last year, the third-slowest among the running-back class. He stands 5-8 — no one shorter was drafted this year.
“I think my football career path has kind of been one of, like, ‘He’s a good player, but there’s something off,’ ’’ Monangai said Sunday. “Something that, ‘I don’t think I’m going to put him at the pedestal he should be.’
“I was never always talked about among the top guys, usually, from Pop Warner to middle school, high school, college and then now even. So it’s not a new space, not a new environment for me. It’s a role that I embrace, something that I take on. And I think it’s, honestly, what’s made me the player I am.”
In that sense, he has a lot in common with Luther Burden. The former Missouri wide receiver — who practiced Sunday one day after hurting his midsection — is still seething about falling to the Bears in Round 2. Burden, though, has prototypical size for his position to match his stat-stuffing college résumé.
Whether Monangai’s production can transfer to the NFL without the perfect body type is one of the most compelling storylines of the Bears’ offseason. More than most of the Bears’ Day 3 picks, he’ll have an opportunity to make an impact.
Despite needing a running back to team with starter D’Andre Swift and short-yardage back Roschon Johnson, the Bears didn’t sign an established player in free agency or draft one higher than the seventh round. That might have proved different had Ohio State running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson not been taken off the board with two of the three picks before the Bears’ No. 39 selection.
General manager Ryan Poles still could add a veteran free agent — J.K. Dobbins is coming off a career-high 905 rushing yards with the Chargers, and former Browns star Nick Chubb is working to regain his burst after a grisly knee injury. But Monangai will get first crack at sticking in the team’s running-back rotation.
“My short exposure to D’Andre Swift has been really positive,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “He has been really attentive. He’s a pro. Obviously, you like what he does in the passing game, and he’s gonna be a home-run hitter as a runner. Adding Kyle to that mix is going to be awesome, with the group that’s in there with Roschon and those guys.”
Doyle has noticed the way Monangai carries himself — he sits in the front at team meetings, taking notes and answering questions intended for the group. Poles likes Monangai’s physicality, willingness to pass-block and the balance he maintains when he takes on tacklers.
It will be hard to measure Monangai until the pads come on, but there’s no doubting the opportunity in front of him. Something needs to change in the Bears’ rushing attack. Swift averaged 3.8 yards per carry last season, a career low. Johnson averaged 2.7 after a respectable 4.3 the year before. The Bears brought in former Chiefs and Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy — the best running-backs coach in the NFL in their view — to fix it. Monangai will be a test of Bieniemy’s ability to develop players.
Monangai feels like he has been questioned his whole life.
“I don’t concern myself with who went before me and all those things — the draft is over with,” he said. “[It’s] definitely something I’ll take with me as some fuel, a chip on my shoulder. But that’s kind of been my whole career and my path to getting here. The things that allowed me to excel in college, I’ve got to figure that out at this level first, then use those things to my advantage.
“I expect to see the same results.”